AT THE TIME IT WAS A BORING TOWN

And, yes, I guess it still is. When I left you in suspended anticipation from yesterday's blog, you were on the corner by The Mammoth.

Caty-cornered was the other clothing store that was nearly as cool as The Mammoth. What they had was the best seamstress or alteration lady anywhere. J.V. Walkers was also located in a few other towns near us. There I would go to purchase a new shirt and new pair of pants about once a month when I was in high school. Total cost $10. Coach Lee nailed me there once for wearing a stolen high school football practice jersey into the store when he was there. I didn't swipe it, but a good buddy of mine did and gave me two hot items. I gave the other jersey to a girl who handed it down to her brother who also got caught wearing it. He was open enough to tell the tale and I got nailed again after I started teaching at MTV High.

Next was the Ben Franklin Store housed where a movie theatre once stood and where an uncle of mine worked for awhile. Ben advertised as a five-and-dime, but even I'm not that old. There were lots of items costing much more there. Then the Brokerage which handled cheaper stuff. I last went in there as a junior in high school to purchase white, not khaki pants to wear while I flipped Burger Chef burgers one Summer. And next to it another jewelers where I did buy my necessary rings to get hitched.

And now I leap to the west side of the street over the courthouse where soldiers' crosses were put out for decoration on Memorial Day just to the west of the big cannon on the lawn. How I screwed up and had to combine two sides of the square, I'm still not sure, but it's ok, because my memory has failed and I don't know what was where on this side of the unfrequented street. A huge bank, typical of that era took up a good portion of the block--Jefferson State Bank, maybe. Next to it was Blades' Walgreens which I did frequent in junior high. Sitting in the booths with barely teen girls was a typical after school activity. Feeding nickels into the miniature juke boxes and sipping cherry cokes. Even though I lived just a few blocks from the school, I would walk, occasionally catch a ride with a girl's mom, to Walgreens for that ritual. What else covered that block is a mystery. The "Tall Gold" as it is called stands there now and I referred to it in an earlier blog.

So what else did I miss? Musgroves shoe store, the Susan Shop with the largest Pepsi sign on the roof, another bank, two more movie theatres, another furniture store, another women's shop, Ellis' Cafe with a big Wimpy sign (not in comparison to the Pepsi sign), a watch repair shop, a popcorn stand a la Disneyland Main Street, Carps Dept. store and Summers home owned non-union store where I wasn't allowed because my Dad was union, and a Western Auto. Most all family run and operated. For more than one generation.

MTV was different than no other Midwest small town of that era. And it's no different than any now. All that's gone is the downtown shops and all the nostalgia and memories that flash by from time to time.

It's hard to imagine that it's been 48 or 49 years ago that I stood by The Mammoth with my parents watching a parade when my 7th or 8th grade girlfriend came up to me, took my hat, and put it on her head. She looked a lot cuter than I did in it anyway. I doubt that she even remembers it, but it's things like that I don't forget. A small town Norman Rockwell scene. to top of my hometown tour.